A blog about an actress, silent film, and the Jazz Age; and occasionally the Denishawn Dance Company, writer Frank Wedekind, his character Lulu, Weimar Germany, Hollywood, the state of Kansas, books, music, art, history and other things sometimes only tangentially related to the heart of the matter, written on a regular basis by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the LBS.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Diary of a Lost Girl - A round up of reviews

Das Tagebuch einer Verlorenen, Louise Brooks' sixteenth film, was
officially released on this day in 1929. Das Tagebuch einer Verlorenen, or Diary of a Lost Girl, is the story of a young girl who is seduced and sent to a brutal reformatory. She escapes to a brothel, comes into money, and changes her life.

The
film stars Louise Brooks as Thymiane, Fritz Rasp as Meinert, Andrews Engelmann as Director of the reformatory, Valeska Gert as the Director's wife, Edith Meinhard as Erika, Josef Rovenský as Thymiane's father, André Roanne as Count Nicolas Osdorff, Sybille Schmitz as Elisabeth, the Governess, Vera Pawlowa as Aunt Frieda, Arnold Korff as Elder Count Osdorff, Siegfried Arno as a Guest, and Kurt Gerron as Dr. Vitalis. Also appearing in the film are Hedwig Schlichter, Hans Casparius, and Michael von Newlinsky.

This 8 real German silent film is drawn from a screenplay by Rudolf Leonhardt, as adapted from the famous book by Margarete Böhme. The director
was Georg Wilhelm Pabst. The film was not as widely shown as Brooks' earlier Pabst directed film, Pandora's Box. Here are a few English language reviews drawn from the Louise Brooks Society
archive.

anonymous. "Diary of a Lost Girl." Variety, November 20, 1929. --- "This time he has also been unfortunate in the choice of his heroine. Louise Brooks (American) is monotonous in the tragedy which she has to present."

anonymous. "Famous Hollywood Thrillers." London Times, March 9, 1961. --- ". . . and the two films in which Pabst directed that now almost legendary star of the twenties, Louise Brooks" (announcement of screening of Diary of a Lost One and Pandora's Box at the National Film Theater in London)

Kauffmann, Stanley. "Two Anomalous Careers." New Republic, October 10, 1983. --- "Because Brooks's personal qualities completely suffuse the screen, a lot of critics have written a lot of nonsense about her acting ability."

Cosford, Bill. "A 'lost' actress found in 'Diary'." Miami Herald, November 14, 1984. --- " . . . is thus a fascinating piece of evidence for speculation on the career that never was."

Christie, Ian. "Film Guide." Daily Express, February 21, 1986. --- "Lovely Louise Brooks stars in G. W. Pabst's silent German classic about a girl who goes to the dogs after being seduced by a chemist."

Maltin, Leonard. Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide. New York: Signet, 1998. --- "Pabst and Brooks' followup to their Pandora Box's is even more sordid, yet in some ways more intriguing: Louise is, in succession, raped, gives birth, is put in a detention home, then a brothel, inherits money, marries, is widowed... and writer Rudolf Leonhardt claims only the first half of his script was filmed. Fascinating nonetheless, with an explicitness that's still surprising; a must for devotees of German stylistics (and of course, Brooks). Fully restored version was reissued in 1984."

Thomajan, Dale. "Diary of a Lost Girl." TV Guide Online, circa 2001. --- "Despite its conventional, abrupt, and unsatisfying ending, it is still valuable for its frequent audacity, its scathing dissection of bourgeois selfishness and hypocrisy, and its showcasing of the incomparable Louise Brooks in her prime."

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Launched in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society (www.pandorasbox.com) is an online archive and international fan club devoted to the silent film star best known for her role as Lulu in Pandora's Box. Our motto, "To understand just one life, you have to swallow the world." - Salman Rushdie

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This blog is authored by THOMAS GLADYSZ, founding Director of the Louise Brooks Society. It is a continuation of the old LBS blog at LiveJournal, which started in 2002. Please send comments, questions, or material to share to silentfilmbuffATgmailDOTcom